Pros: Some decent guitar work, one or two okay songs...
Cons: Horrific vocals, bad lyrics, a bad cover of Crystal Ship...
The Bottom Line: Unless you set out to own every single thing Joe Perry has ever done, you may be best off writing this album off. His self-titled fourth release is pretty awful.
lambchops's Full Review: Joe Perry by Joe Perry (Guitar)
Joe Perry is Aerosmith’s equivalent of Keith Richards. Brash, pouting, and obviously worse for the wear he has stood alongside Steven Tyler for the past thirty years. The guitarist is talented enough in his own right and as such has felt it necessary to record a handful of solo albums over the course of his career.
2005 saw the release of his fourth album. The self-titled disc has a few positive points but by and large it suffers the same fate as his previous three—it is painfully mediocre especially considering the body of work he has with Aerosmith. 1980s Let the Music Do the Talking, 1981’s I’ve Got the Rock’n’Rolls Again, and 1984’s dire Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker purportedly do nothing more for the listener than the newer album. I can’t say I’m surprised either—the fact is that so many talented musicians strike out on their own creatively and try to carve their own niche yet I am left wondering “what would this sound like if Steven Tyler were on vocals?”
The Massachusetts native may not be entirely impressive with his solo body of work, but it is still hard not to notice his guitar licks. Vocals? Mostly blah. Lyrics? Definitely blah. Guitar? Mostly fine. Fans of Perry will probably be entertained by this album but nobody is going to be dumbstruck by its quality. My main complaint is that Perry’s voice is rather nasally and not particularly nice. It definitely falls into the category of unremarkably boring. The influence for this album seems to be that which also inspired Aerosmith to record their most recent albums—bluesy, guitar-heavy hard rock. Handling all duties from guitar to keys and vocals to production this is definitely a full fledged solo effort which is to be commended.
As for what Perry sounds like, I would compare him to a less dynamic and energetic Scott Weiland. He’s got the whine down but it lacks any real range or sparkle. I’m very distracted by the lack of energy in these songs—for example Hold on Me is a mid-tempo disaster. The song itself has a nice enough melody and the guitar work is primo but the vocals are flat. It really, honestly goes nowhere. The most unfortunate thing about this is that Hold on Me is the rule rather than the exception. This is one disc you shouldn’t pop into the stereo if you’re on the verge of slipping into slumber.
Opener Shakin’ My Cage is actually vaguely promising. The pace is fast, the energy is fine, and Perry’s vocals aren’t so obviously bad yet. I enjoy the slight country honky-tonk twang. It is well suited to the vocals and guitars. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it is a catchy song, but it also is not difficult to enjoy on some level. My only real complaint is that it lasts too long at over four minutes—Perry chanting “shaking my cage, shakin’ my cage, shake shake, shakin’ my cage” becomes tiring after just two or three minutes. Even with all those issues there is little question that the rest of the album is much more lackluster than the first song would indicate.
Pray for Me is another debacle. It starts promising enough with a vaguely Middle Eastern tinge. Unfortunately, that part is drowned out by the bland melody and vocals. I do like that it is different than most of the rest of the release—it just lacks any magnetism to draw me in. While Can’t Compare lacks the international flair of the previous song, it is just as weak. It blends into the landscape despite the occasional flicker of greatness (a guitar solo here, a decent melody there) it generally fizzles. This is certainly rock and roll but it lacks the fire that makes for a good track of any kind. Maybe the biggest bastardization of this album comes with the Doors classic Crystal Ship. At the same time it is one of the better performed songs, it is also almost entirely void of any real creative quality. It basically sounds like a bar band half-heartedly trying to do a song justice. Perry’s voice isn’t nearly throaty or mystical as Jim Morrison. Maybe had he done something different with the material (aside from amping up the guitar mix) I would have been more impressed. The only thing I appreciate is that unlike the rest of the material here it ends short of wearing out its welcome.
The troubles continue throughout the remaining songs of this eponymous disc. Talk Talkin’ is fortunately slightly better than one would expect. It has a great, dirty bluesy bar band feel that is particularly well suited to Perry’s thin voice. It is mid-tempo (a common thread across this tragically mediocre album) but blues rock is usually best suited to these kinds of arrangements. That said, what follows really is bad. I am actually surprised by how middling this release is. What is clear based on this material is that Perry is not complete with Tyler and vice versa. Push Comes to Shove and Twilight return to the tired mid-tempo equation—I honestly just can’t stand the lack of life on this album. Fortunately, Ten Years is vaguely better. Perry sounds like an aged country rocker. Like the blues-band sound before, country-rock seems well suited. I think it is still a boring song, but at least Perry doesn’t sound like he’s trying too hard. Ten Years comes easy to him as a weak vocalist.
As Joe Perry (the album) comes to an end (finally) it makes no more reprieves. Vigilante Man, Dying to be Free, and Mercy do nothing for me aside from prolonging my substantial misery. I really, honestly wanted to like this release however it is completely uncreative, lacking in energy, and the vocals (not to mention lyrics—please note Shakin’ My Cage detailed above) are pretty pitiful. The only so-called good thing is that Perry can clearly play. I also give him kudos for attempting a true solo release. Unfortunately the truth of the matter is that it really isn’t very good. I can hardly recommend it to anybody aside from hard core Aerosmith fanboys (and girls).
By the way, Joe Perry is only available on DualDisc format. An option would have been nice, but at least the DVD side provides the whole release in 5.1 surround sound. There are also bonus materials including an interview with the talky Perry about the making of this album (among other things). It’s not a classic, but fans will definitely enjoy seeing him talk about the impetus behind the songs.
Rating: 1.5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Shakin’ My Cage
02. Hold on Me
03. Pray for Me
04. Can’t Compare
05. Lonely
06. Crystal Ship
07. Talk Talkin’
08. Push Comes to Shove
09. Twilight
10. Ten Years
11. Vigilante Man
12. Dying to be Free
13. Mercy
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